What you see in the map is the distance between me and TD Garden. I am from Athens, Greece. The place where my favorite Celtics blogger John Karalis comes from. How much obsessed can somebody be with a team that plays on the other side of the ocean?

It is afternoon in Greece, 4th of July 2017. 4th of July is not a national celebration here. It is just 4th of July. I am in my car going to a friend and while I was driving I was on twitter and constantly refreshing my feed, waiting for Hayward's final decision. I had a sense that the decision time was approaching so I was more and more anxious to find out. While I was doing that, the car in front of me stopped. I didn't see it. And BOOM.

Flashback. In the morning I went by the post office because my Barstool Sports t-shirt of Larry Bird had arrived. I took this as a good sign. My girlfriend makes fun of me that the only time I become anxious or believe in signs is when it comes to Celtics. The previous night I had been watching again the story of Butler the year they lost to Duke and Gordon's heave almost went in. I knew it was meant for them to come back together. And I have predicted an ESPN 30 for 30 which will be about their story from the heave to the ring.

The only thing that typically worried me at deadlines is whether or not Marcus Smart will remain a Celtic. He is my favorite player so even if we have a trade and we get LeBron, the first thing I am going to worry about is whether or not Marcus is in the deal.

The reason for that is that I believe that Marcus will be member of the team - and a vital part - that brings the 18th ring. I believe that he is the piece that you cannot throw away if you want to be a real contender. Like Draymond Green. Take him out of the Warriors team and they would lose the Finals no matter their other incredible players. The fact that I believe in him so much, makes me nervous every trade deadline. Because I know that my belief is not fictional. When something is realistic, you become more anxious not to lose it.

The same thing applied to Hayward. I believed that it was super realistic for us to get him. And I believe so since we got Brad and I saw what kind of amazing coach and human being he is. There is something unique in him which made me believe that anyone who has been coached by him would love to do it again because he gives you the sense of belonging to something more than a team.

I could see it when Andrew Smith was ill. I could see it when Andrew Smith lost his life.

Flash-forward. BOOM. I hit the car in front of me. Thankfully, not with much speed. The driver was fine. We spent two hours waiting - and surprisingly happily chatting - until the insurance company came to record the event. But did I messed with the good karma by being an irresponsible driver? Would I be the reason that Hayward stays in Utah?

I arrive at my friend's house. I keep refreshing twitter feed. Then Haynes did the tweet. And I started celebrating and screaming. My friends always make fun of how much I care about a team so far away. I could still see though that my joy made them happy.

And then chaos. People started saying that there is no decision yet. That Gordon is still processing his options. Hassan Whiteside was encouraging us to stay woke. Of course I am woke! And on the verge of losing my mind. The initial tweet was not by Woj so - no disrespect to Haynes - I started believing that this mess would conclude to Hayward's decision to stay. And it would all be my goddamn fault. Because I was driving irresponsibly. My bad karma would deny the world the most amazing 30 for 30 ever.

You all know the end of the story. Gordon is the new member of the Boston Celtics. Gordon, Brad and Marcus will bring us together with IT, Jae, Al and previous 7/11 the 18th ring. And I promise you I will not mess again with our team's future. I will drive appropriately. You do the same. And one day I will meet you all at the TD Garden. Until then, I will "stay woke" to see our matches which take place around 2pm.

bobMY NOTE: As many of you know, we have board members from outside the continental US here, from Estonia, Berlin Germany and Puerto Rico. SwedeinEstonia and Berlin-T are regular posters on the Game On! thread (especially Berlin!) even though it is 2-3 A.M. there (the author was wrong when he said 2 P.M.) and we rely on International (from Puerto Rico) for updates and insights into players in Euro and other leagues. I posted this article to show my appreciation for the far-flung members of Celtics Planet, and especially to our own board members, who come here and share their thoughts and knowledge.

I was also thinking about him but I cannot remember his name. If I recall there were a whole contingent of Celtics fans over there.

1986? He's actually a member here, he just hasn't posted since '09.

We had a member from Japan, Quiet Reader. As the name suggests, she liked to read this site but didn't post. I think she once told me that her command of the English language wasn't strong enough for her to feel confident while posting. She did love the Celtics. She was from back in the BDC days as well.